Necessary Alternatives
by AislingK
Summary: Kate can't get over a mistake she made on a case, and asks Abby for some unusual help. Warning: Contains the spanking of an adult.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Necessary Alternatives

**Disclaimer**: The characters belong to Donald Bellisario, and I hope he won't mind that I've borrowed them for awhile. The story is not connected to any particular episode or storyline from NCIS.

**Warning**: This story contains the non-sexual spanking of an adult. If that's not your thing, it would be best if you didn't read it.

* * *

Abby was warming up the crowd for her big number. At least, that's the way she always liked to view it. She drew them in, teasing them with shiny facts that were ultimately red herrings, slowly building up their anticipation until she could reveal her true findings with a dramatic flourish. It was an art form, and she got nearly as much of a thrill from the performance as she did from figuring out the evidence in the first place.

It really didn't seem to matter that much to her that her "audience" wasn't always sufficiently appreciative. Gibbs alternated between being stoic and impatient, and Tony mostly just liked the fact that Abby's long, drawn out presentations kept him from having to do any real work. Only Kate ever seemed to be intrigued by the whole process. Kate was always fascinated by the different angles Abby had taken to reach the answer, amused by Abby's theatrical flair, and impressed by the ultimate triumph of her brilliant scientific mind. Or at least that's how Kate usually reacted. For the past few weeks Kate had seemed off, and today in the lab her distraction was evident as Abby regaled the three agents with her newest findings.

"The top markings were so symmetrical and precise, I was convinced they had to have been made by a tool of some sort, possibly a screwdriver." Abby drew their attention over to a table full of carpentry tools, waving her hands over the screwdrivers, awls, and drill bits neatly lined up for show. She picked one up for their inspection. "As you can clearly see, this one has a Phillips-head, which has four points, just like our mystery wound.

"So does the size match?" Gibbs prompted.

"Patience is a virtue, my young friend." Abby quipped. She relished the fact that she was the only one who could get away with mocking Gibbs like that. "In actual fact, this could not have been our murder weapon, since a screwdriver would have made a significantly deeper hole, assuming the person wielding it used any force at all." She playfully lunged at Tony with the pointy tool, stopping her arm in midair as Tony pretended to duck in fear and Gibbs called out her name sharply.

Abby reluctantly replaced the screwdriver on the table. She noticed that Kate didn't seem to be paying attention to the antics and had looked up startled at the sound of Gibbs' voice, almost as if she'd heard him bark her own name, instead of Abby's. Maybe Kate was just tired, Abby considered. Gibbs had certainly been working them hard lately on several cases, with many work days starting at dawn and ending late into the night. Anyone would have trouble focusing under those conditions. She decided to ignore it and continue with her demonstration.

"It wasn't just that the hole wasn't deep enough for a screwdriver. There was also the shallow groove marked below the main wound. I couldn't think of anything that would cause such an indentation. And then it came to me." Abby paused for effect, then displayed her hands dramatically in front of her face.

"Rings." She pronounced solemnly.

"Rings?" Gibbs replied quizzically.

"Yes, rings," Abby was pleased to be able to draw out the revelation of her discovery. "Well, not rings like this," she looked at the assortment of sterling silver skulls, spikes and baubles around nearly all of her ten fingers. "Something more traditional. Like an engagement ring with a large stone, sitting above a wedding band."

"No wonder Kate didn't recognize it!" Tony grinned absurdly at his own joke.

"Hunh?" Kate glanced around to see everyone watching her for a reply. "Oh, very funny Tony," she muttered. Realizing that everyone was still staring, she made a fake smirk at Tony that seemed to satisfy his need to get a rise out of her.

Now Abby knew something was wrong. Kate always gave back to Tony as good as she got. She should have had a sharp-witted retort that cut Tony down to size, not an off-handed comment.

Gibbs broke into her thoughts. "An engagement ring implies that our assailant was a woman."

"Exactly!" Abby was pleased that she had gained Gibbs' attention, despite her concerns about Kate. "And one with a rather uninspired taste in jewelry, if I do say so myself."

Gibbs ignored her last remark. "DiNozzo, I want you doing follow-up interviews on the base with this new information in mind. Kate, you go back through the records we pulled and narrow down the list to married women. Nice work, Abs. You'll let me know when you've processed the rest of the samples?"

"You got it, boss!" Abby chirped. She was suddenly alone again in her lab, and she hadn't had a chance to catch Kate. Abby turned up the volume on her music and shifted her focus back to the world of science.


	2. Chapter 2

Abby was fixated on a chemical spectrum that decorated her computer screen when she heard Kate call her name behind her. She sprung up to turn down the music to a level that someone else would find tolerable.

"Hey Kate! Have you identified our ring bearer?"

"Not yet."

"Oh. Did Gibbs send you down here? I'm just in the middle of isolating the substance that was on the victim's shoes."

"No, Gibbs didn't send me." Kate wasn't really looking at Abby as she spoke. Abby wasn't sure where to take the conversation. She and Kate were friends, and sometimes they hung out after work, but Kate was basically a private person, and Abby didn't want to pry. Still, there was clearly something going on with her, and Abby wanted Kate to know that she was free to talk about whatever was on her mind.

"Well, I'm always happy to have visitors for any reason. Chocolate?" Abby held out a bag of chocolate covered espresso beans that McGee had given her in a vain attempt to add some class to her caffeine intake.

"No thanks." Kate shook her head. "I was actually here because of the rings."

"The rings?" Abby looked puzzled. "Is there something wrong with them? I went online and looked at some different jewelry sites and I'm really sure that what we've got here is a basic boring square cut diamond in a raised setting of some sort." She scowled at the thought that anyone would choose such a clichéd way of celebrating their love.

"No, not those rings," Kate cut in. "I was thinking about, well, your rings."

"My rings?" Abby wasn't really sure where this conversation was going as she glanced down and inspected her chunky finger adornments. She looked back up at Kate expectantly.

"Well, not the rings per se. I mean, yeah, the rings, but I guess, well, more generally, the collars and the bracelets and the accessories." Kate babbled uncharacteristically.

"Kate, I'm assuming that you're not here for fashion tips." Abby grinned at her.

"No, of course not." Realizing how that sounded, Kate quickly continued, "I mean, they're great, for you, but it's not really me…"

Abby jumped in to save her. "Relax, Kate. I was just teasing. What did you want to know about my jewelry?"

Kate stared at the floor and fidgeted a bit before answering. "I guess I was wondering if they're, well, just for fun."

Abby was genuinely confused by the question. "Well, I don't go around punching people out with the rings, if that's what you're getting at."

"No, that's not really what I meant. It's just that, well, for some people jewelry is just about appearances, and I know you like wearing stuff like that – the black, and the metal, and the spiked collars and chains and things, and it's sort of you, but I know that sometimes it's kind of an indication of, um, other things." Kate was clearly finding this conversation uncomfortable.

"What kind of other things?" Abby prodded gently.

"I don't know, different things." Kate paused and fiddled with her own necklace, twisting the chain tightly around her fingers. Abby waited for Kate to continue on her own. "Sometimes, when we're on a case, and we have to search someone's apartment, and they have stuff like that, stuff like what you wear, well, sometimes they have other things too." Kate took a breath and then said quietly, "Things for punishing people."

Abby made a deliberate effort to suppress a smile out of respect for the fact that Kate was clearly in agony. She knew that other people, Kate included, did not regularly make a habit out of discussing fetishes. Moreover, Kate's recent behavior and overall distress indicated that this was probably not a conversation prompted by a new boyfriend's sexual inclinations.

"Sure, sometimes they're connected. But not always. One of the most corporate, straight-laced guys I ever dated – this guy wore a tie to eat breakfast on Sunday – had a collection of medieval dungeon paraphernalia like you wouldn't believe."

"Did you use it?" Kate asked.

Abby had to laugh at that memory. "Well, we played around a bit, I guess. We weren't together that long."

"Was it only him?"

Kate was starting to sound a bit desperate, and Abby still didn't know where any of this was going.

"Kate, as much fun as it would be to reminisce with you about Ghosts of Boyfriends Past, I don't really think that you came here to ask me about my sex life."

Kate looked horrified when she realized how this was all sounding to Abby. "Oh god, Abby, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be rude! Oh shit, I didn't mean to ask any of that, it's not like me to pry. I'm sorry, I should really go…"

Abby cut her off. "Kate, stay. It's not like you to pry, but let's face it – you haven't really been yourself for about three weeks."

Kate calmed down, but seemed concerned by Abby's remark. "No, I'm fine. This was just an anomaly. Nothing's wrong – really." She tried to laugh it off. "I guess I just got curious earlier, and I was bored looking through personnel files, and this seemed like a good idea at the time. But it was stupid – I'm sorry. Anyways, I should really get back to my desk before Gibbs notices I'm gone." Kate headed for the door.

"What happened three weeks ago?"

Kate stopped walking and turned back to Abby. "I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing happened three weeks ago," she replied.

Abby decided to press the issue. "It's just me, Kate. What happened that you don't want to talk about?"

"Honestly, Abby, nothing happened. Tony and McGee staked out the bus station and we arrested the guy who stabbed the Marine. We closed the case – it was all clean." Kate was talking just a little too fast for Abby to believe her. She moved closer and put her hand on Kate's shoulder. "Then why haven't you been able to look anyone in the eye since then?"

"Please," Kate spoke in a soft voice. "Let it go."

"Answer me first."

Kate looked right at Abby for several moments, anguish clear in her eyes. She made a few false attempts to speak before finally whispering, "Abby, I screwed up. Badly."

Abby instinctively wanted to give Kate a hug, but she didn't want Kate to stop talking now that she'd finally started.

"What did you do?"

"It doesn't matter now. It was something that could have compromised the case – that should have compromised the case."

"But you caught the guy, right?"

"Yes, and that's why no one can know what I did. Why no one needs to know."

"And when you say that no one can know, I take it that you mean…"

"Gibbs." Kate finished Abby's conjecture. "Gibbs can't ever know what I did – how much I could have fucked up this case. And no one else can know either, because I don't want them to be implicated if there's ever an investigation. The guy confessed so it's over now and I just need to move on."

"How's that working out for you so far?" Abby couldn't help herself from trying to bring a bit of levity back in the room. Kate started to laugh, but then her laughter turned into a choked sob.

"I'm trying so hard, Abby. I want to just forget this but it won't seem to go away. I can't sleep. I can't concentrate on anything. I can't look at Gibbs, as you've apparently noticed. I'm scared all the time that someone will find out."

"Then why don't you tell him?" Abby suggested. "How bad could it really be? You'd tell him and it'd be out there and then you'd be able to get past it, whatever it is."

"No!" Kate said sharply. "It's bad. He can't know."

"OK, so what's Plan B?" Abby asked.

Kate didn't answer, but she started fiddling with her necklace again. Abby's mind suddenly returned to the surreal start of this conversation. Things started falling into place.

"Holy crap, Kate. I'm Plan B, aren't I?"

Kate met her eyes but didn't speak.

"All that talk about whether I had fetish stuff at home, that wasn't idle curiosity, was it?"

"No."

"Kate, are you asking me to punish you? Physically?"

Seconds passed, and then Kate nodded her assent. "I think it's what I need," she acknowledged quietly.

Abby's mind was reeling. Sure, she had an assortment of toys and implements at home, collected through the years of boyfriends and other less serious encounters. But it was always just playful, and usually at the request of her partners. She'd never been particularly hard core about it, and she'd certainly never meted out actual discipline, or at least nothing that wasn't part of a silly role play scene. And this was Kate – her friend and colleague, who she'd have to see every day at work afterwards. How could she possibly do this and then have things return to normal? Abruptly Abby realized that she had it completely backwards. Kate _was_ her friend, and it was through granting this favor that hopefully things would be able to return to normal. Abby took a deep breath.

"OK, Kate, I'll try. I can't promise anything, but I'll try to do this right. Come over tonight at 9."

Kate nodded earnestly and murmured "Thank you." She left Abby alone in her lab once again, wondering what the hell she'd just agreed to.


	3. Chapter 3

Abby was starting to feel a bit frantic. She'd rushed home from work and done a cursory cleaning of the place, mostly throwing stuff into places that she didn't expect Kate to look. Now she was kneeling on the floor in front of a box which was, she realized, sort of a time capsule from her colorful sexual past. She rummaged around in the box, trying to decide what she needed. Her excavations turned up a naked Barbie doll – she tried to remember who had donated that to the collection, and what precise role Barbie had played in their relationship. Abby threw the doll back in the box. "Focus!" she willed herself.

Abby decided to separate out anything that might actually be of use tonight. She lined up everything related to discipline play on the floor and examined her choices. Anything that was overtly sexual or silly, or both, went back in the box. "Gibbs' Rule #17: Never discipline your partner with anything pink or furry," Abby pronounced aloud.

She surveyed what was left. A shudder went through her as she tossed a fierce looking cane back into the box. Abby didn't want Kate to be frightened, and in any case Abby didn't think she'd really be comfortable applying it with any force. Even though it might be important for the punishment to hurt, it wasn't supposed to be like torture. Scanning her remaining options, Abby reached out and selected a dark wooden paddle. It looked serious without being ominous – something she could imagine a teacher using on a student. And Abby was pretty sure it would deliver an appropriate level of pain without a lot of skill on her part. Abby turned it over a few times, felt its weight in one hand, and knew this was the right choice. She threw everything else back in the box and returned the entire collection to its place in her closet.

At 8:58 Abby's intercom buzzed. She pressed the button to unlock the building's front door, figuring that a cheery invitation through the speaker system to "come on up" would seem weird under the circumstances. A minute passed before there was a knock at the door to her own apartment. Abby concentrated on appearing calm, a significant effort given her usual frenetic nature, and opened the door.

Kate stood in front of her, dressed much as she had been at work, but looking sick with worry. Once again Abby had to restrain herself from throwing her arms around her friend. Abby thought that hugs could cure almost anything, but Kate had made it clear that she needed something else tonight. Abby had accepted her role, but still wasn't sure how to start.

"I didn't know if you'd really show up," Abby remarked.

"Me neither." Kate smiled in spite of herself.

Abby stepped back from the door and Kate followed her inside. She'd been to Abby's apartment before, but looked around as if it was her first time, or as though she expected to see something new set up in anticipation of tonight's events.

"Have a seat." Abby gestured at the sofa.

"No, thanks," Kate replied. "I think that we should just get this over with."

"Kate, you asked me to do something for you, and I'm going to do it. But we're going to do it my way. And right now my way is for you to sit down on my couch." Abby had decided earlier that she wasn't going to run this like some kind of dominatrix parody, but she still needed Kate to know who was in charge.

Kate sat down at the very end of the couch, almost perched on the edge of the seat. Abby paced back and forth a few times, then went to stand behind a chair to steady herself. She had to appear stable for Kate to take her seriously.

"OK, Kate. I need to know what you did."

Kate looked at her, confused. "I already told you. I compromised the integrity of the Jefferson case."

"That's not enough. I can't punish you for that. You need to tell me exactly what you did."

Kate stood up. "Well, then I guess this was a waste of time." She headed for the door.

"You don't get off that easy, Kate." Abby's voice was firm. Kate turned around to face Abby. It was evident that she hadn't expected this response, and wasn't sure how to respond.

"Sit back down."

Kate stood her ground. "I can't tell you what I did. I don't want you implicated in this."

"This is my apartment. What happens here doesn't count. Nothing that gets said here will ever leave these walls."

"You know that's not how it works, Abby."

Abby walked over to her friend and led her by the hand back to the couch. She sat down first and Kate followed suit. "That's how it works for me, Kate. I'm treating tonight like it's outside of time. I'm never going to reveal anything that you say to me here to anyone else, and I'd never tell anyone what we did. I think that for you to get the most out of this punishment you need to have told me everything. I don't think that you'll get the catharsis you're hoping for if you're still keeping this secret, because that's what's sucking up all your energy. But you're right – I can't force you to tell me. So I won't push the issue."

Kate's relief at this fact was palpable. "But you'll still punish me?" she asked tentatively.

"Yes, I will. But keep in mind what I said. A whipping won't make the guilt go away if you're still holding the source of your pain inside you." Abby stood up and walked over to where she'd hidden the paddle. She removed it from the drawer silently, knowing that Kate was transfixed.

"Come over here, please."

Kate obeyed the instruction, moving across the room to the dining room table. Abby saw that Kate's eyes were glued to the paddle.

"Alright, Kate, you don't have to tell me what happened, but I need to hear that what you did was bad enough to warrant the severity of this punishment."

"It was."

When Kate didn't volunteer any more information, Abby knew she had to proceed.

"Bend over the table," she directed.

Kate complied, gripping the far edge. She put her forehead down to the surface for a few moments, then raised it back up and concentrated on the Celtic knotwork plaques hanging on the opposite wall.

Abby felt like she should say something before she began the spanking. She wasn't used to lecturing anyone, and it was made even more complicated by the fact that she didn't actually know what Kate had done. But Kate knew, and Abby decided that was all that really mattered.

"You screwed up, Kate. You broke regulations and then you made it worse by lying about it. You let down the team, and you let down Gibbs. You didn't fix it when you had the chance, and now it's become too big for you to deal with. So now you need to be punished. This is going to be hard, and it's going to hurt, but then it's going to be over, and you're going to let it go. Do you understand?"

Abby saw Kate nod slightly.

"Out loud, Kate."

"I understand."

Abby wiped the sweat from her palm off on her skirt, and then gripped the handle of the paddle firmly. She pulled her arm back, prayed to the universe that she knew what the hell she was doing, and then brought the paddle down hard on Kate's ass. Kate gasped at the impact. Abby winced at Kate's pain, but raised her arm again. She smacked her a second time, and this time Kate was quiet. Abby repeated the process twice more with no vocal response from Kate. The only evidence that Kate was even aware of the spanking was the increasingly tight grip with which she held onto the table.

Abby continued to paddle her friend with firm blows that she knew had to be painful. Abby's own experience was that even playful smacks started to hurt as they built up, and there was nothing light or playful about the strokes she was administering. She didn't want to go overboard, but she also knew that Kate had to give in to her emotions. Finally she heard a small cry escape from Kate's mouth.

"What did you do, Kate?" Abby asked in a low voice. When there was no reply, she smacked her again. Kate cried out with pain.

"Tell me."

"No," Kate croaked. Abby brought down the paddle. Kate was gasping back sobs, trying to regain control.

"It won't seem so bad if you share it, Kate. You need to let it go."

Kate shook her head back and forth frantically, and Abby gave her another stroke. Kate started sobbing openly. "I tampered with evidence," she managed to get out. Abby put her hand gently on Kate's back. Kate let go of the table and slid down to the floor. Abby got down next to her and waited. Tears streamed down Kate's face as she revealed the extent of her transgression. "I lost a sample from the crime scene – a cigarette butt that we were going to use for DNA. I didn't know what to do and I knew that Gibbs would kill me, and then we had other evidence that that confirmed that he was the murderer, and so I replaced the missing sample with one that I picked up in an ashtray at the guy's house. We had all this proof and then he confessed and so I thought that maybe in the end it wouldn't be such a big deal…" Kate's body was wracked with agonizing sobs, and finally Abby felt free to hug her friend tightly, trying to absorb some of Kate's pain through osmosis. Kate hadn't been kidding – this was a serious offence, one that would almost certainly get her thrown out of NCIS if it was known. And Abby was the one who'd processed the DNA samples, which she now knew were compromised, making her equally culpable if she didn't report it. But she'd pledged loyalty and secrecy to her friend, and Kate's analysis that the case had been closed with ample legitimate evidence and a confession allowed Abby to rationalize her decision to keep Kate's secret safe.

Kate had stopped crying and her breathing was starting to return to normal. Abby released her and pushed Kate's hair back behind her ears. "You OK?" She asked. Kate nodded, looking exhausted, but Abby noticed that the fear and panic were gone from her eyes. "Thank you," Kate said hoarsely. Then she lowered herself down and curled up with her head in Abby's lap.


End file.
